Same But Different
by Shiny Pichu-chan
Summary: Gray/Loke. Rated T for a reason.


It started around the third day of their training sessions as they prepared to leave for the S-class exam.

They always began with a sparring match without magic, while gradually working their way up to it without hurting the other person too seriously. But as they were both skilled fighters, that was never a problem. Most of the time, it was a game to see who could trip the other first and pin them down, and the match would be deemed over. Although, in retrospect, those kinds of conditions were just asking for trouble, but Gray wasn't too keen on getting his bones broken from a dead-serious punch by the stellar spirit, nor was Loke very eager to experience frostbite firsthand. So that was what they had agreed on.

But it only lasted for the first two days. In which Loke always managed to win and pin Gray down.

The ice mage, however, could not be what some called…modest. But neither was Loke. And by the third day when the lion pinned the other down once again, something snapped in his prideful demeanor and it turned into a wrestling match, this time seeing who could _keep _the other person pinned down the longest.

In the end Gray won, probably from sheer determination in not allowing himself to be held down by this scrawny pretty boy again. But by then his shirt had somehow managed to come off and Loke all of a sudden smiled slyly before pulling Gray's head down to have his lips meet with his.

And from there…well, the same routine managed to repeat itself.

The door to the apartment was practically kicked open, as Gray's hands were preoccupied all over Loke, and vice versa. They stumbled in with legs tripping and tangling and hitting walls and furniture while hungrily keeping their mouths together with cut-off moans and only halfway bothering to open their eyes to see where they were going. But they were used to this by now and finding the bedroom was like a magnet being pulled to another of opposite attraction. Soon the backs of Loke's legs were hitting the edge of the bed and he fell back with Gray not too far behind.

Finally with some solid ground to work with, Gray's body melted further into Loke's, while slipping a tongue into the other's pried open mouth, earning himself a heated moan from the celestial spirit. Gray still had his arms wrapped firmly around the other man's mid-section, pulling him close and partially grinding his lower half into him. But he would take it slow. It was always more fun that way.

After a lengthy clashing of tongues the two needed air, and as they pulled apart ever so slightly just to do so, Loke panted out with a reddened face, "…clothes…"

"Oh," Gray chuckled slightly, moving off Loke a bit, though still straddling him with his legs, "Right."

Loke smiled to himself as he sat up and began removing his jacket, tossing it to the side while moving onto the buttons on his shirt. But by then Gray was already down to his boxers. Not that Loke was entirely surprised. He was a pro at this. But oddly Loke still felt weird about it, as if _he _was the inexperienced virgin here or something…

He looked back down to concentrate on the buttons when suddenly Gray reached out carefully to slip off Loke's glasses, making him look back up in surprise. It was a very strange gesture. The ice mage had never done so before. But perhaps what was even stranger was how Gray stopped for a moment after taking them off to stare at Loke's face, as if something had abruptly caught his attention.

It was a full five seconds before Loke's face twisted into a look of puzzlement with a hint of anxiety as he asked hesitantly, "…W-what exactly are you staring at?"

Gray then blinked in surprise, twitching himself away from the other as realization dawned on him. Absently he leaned over to set the glasses on the nightstand, a sudden nervous smile making its way onto his features, "W-what? I was staring?"

"You were," Loke replied instantly, eyes half-lidded in a look of suspicion.

As Gray looked back over at the other, he narrowed his eyes defensively, "Well now _you're _staring at _me_."

"It's not the same thing," Loke snapped impatiently.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Gray replied shortly, getting himself back into his previous position while his hands reached for the lion's belt.

Loke's hands immediately clamped onto Gray's, and the ice mage looked up with dread to meet the other's scorn-filled gaze. _Damn_ Loke could seriously look scary when he wanted to…

The stellar spirit smirked darkly, "You aren't getting any until you tell me what that was about."

Gray gaped at him, a light blush coloring his cheeks, "W-what!? You think something that stupid is going to work on me?!"

Loke didn't say anything in reply, however, and his sinister smirk didn't waver. And the longer Gray stared at him in this unspoken contest of will, the more his defiant expression faltered little by little, until it was completely extinguished. Because, of course…Loke was right. It _would_ work on him.

After a moment, Gray stubbornly removed his hands off Loke's pants in a mock sign of surrender, to which the other's leer widened ever so slightly from the victory.

Gray clicked his tongue in frustration, crossing his arms over his chest while avoiding Loke's gaze as he spoke, "…I was just thinking."

When it seemed like he wouldn't continue any further without a little prodding, Loke asked with some amusement, "About what?"

At that, Gray's blush deepened another level, "…How you…" he paused, as if searching for the right words, "…look different."

Loke gave him a blank look, "…H-huh?" That was the last answer he was expecting, after all, "…I…only changed my hair a little, you know…"

"Not like that!" Gray turned back to look at him with a glare, but became tense all over again from the eye contact, and his gaze shifted away once more in the other direction as he continued, "…I mean, you just look….better." The more he talked, the less hesitant his voice became, "…Better than…before. When you always seemed tired. …And you wore those glasses to hide the bags under your eyes."

Loke's eyes widened just a fraction, and he wasn't sure if that was a blush he was feeling at his cheeks. But he couldn't find the words to say anything in reply. Though it didn't seem to matter much as Gray added,

"I just mean….you've changed a lot…because of Lucy and all…"

Loke took a pause before responding as he processed in his mind all that was said.

Then he grinned in a way that made Gray nervous as hell.

"…That's cute. You're jealous of her?"

Gray's jaw dropped.

"W-WHAT?! I didn't say that! And I'm not cute, dammit!" the ice mage pushed the other back to pin him down, feeling like he wasn't in control of this conversation by being in his lap.

Loke wasn't fazed much by it, however, and seemed to take a great feeling of delight from how red Gray's face was getting, "What? I really can't call you cute?"

Gray looked down at him with a deadpan stare, "Guys don't like being called cute. Especially by another guy."

"Oh?" Loke feigned surprise by this information as he smiled slyly, "But you call me cute."

Gray did _not_ feign surprise by _this_ information, "I-I did not. When was this?"

"Last night," Loke replied promptly.

Gray was blushing again, "…I-if it was after sex it doesn't count."

Loke sniggered uncharacteristically, "Oh? And why is that? A little vulnerable after I've—?"

"DAAAH~! SHUTUPSHUTUP," Gray drowned the man out while covering his ears with his hands, his face now beet red.

Loke turned to his side from under the ice mage and continued his uncontrollable chuckling while trying to stifle it with a hand.

Gray grit his teeth as he forced back a growl while glaring daggers down at the other. But, once again, staring at him too long made his resolve waver. He was cute when he laughed like that anyway…

However, the fact that Loke was laughing _at _him still sparked some irritation within, so Gray decided to shut him up the best way he knew how.

Leaning down again, Gray turned the others head back to him to smash cold lips against his, silencing the chuckling to be replaced by a low moan. Loke's arms atomatically wrapped around the ice mage's neck to deepen the kiss, while Gray's hands eagerly slipped under the other's still half-open shirt to slither and caress bare skin, making Loke's breath hitch and his body tremble ever so slightly from the cool fingers.

After a minute or two, however, Gray pulled back again, looking annoyed with something, "…Take your shirt off already."

Loke chuckled again, this time more good-naturedly, "Right. Sorry."

'_We can't all be exhibitionists…' _Loke felt tempted to say out loud, but it would no doubt delay what was to come, so he kept the amusing thought to himself.

He twisted around while undoing the last few buttons as Gray slipped the shirt off for him and tossed it in any old direction like the rest. But before Loke could turn back around Gray had pinned him down onto his stomach, and a second later he could feel cold lips and tongue against his back, causing a deep shiver of pleasure to run down his spine.

Gray began by pressing his lips to the other's Fairy Tail mark, and then continued on kissing, licking, nipping, biting, sucking, anything he could get his lips on. Meanwhile his hands traveled everywhere. Caressing, stroking, massaging, light touches and not so light touches, all over his back, his spine, every curve, every muscle, every crease, every inch of warm skin, only getting hotter with each touch. Loke liked Gray's hands best. More than anything. Loke figured it came from sculpting ice.

The stellar spirit writhed and trembled under Gray's ministrations, muffling out his moans and sighs the best he could by burying his face into the bed sheets. Pride wouldn't allow him to be loud. He was eager to flip back around, however, to really get started, but Gray still felt like being the torturer, keeping the lion firmly pinned down where he was, making the teasing touches only more unbearable.

It was after a particularly pleasing brush of the fingers near his lower body that Loke felt like saying, "…Y-you're real—ly mm…too good at…t-this…" he panted out with a groan, as Gray didn't stop what he was doing to listen.

The ice mage paused however in his planting of lips along the shoulder blades to reply smugly, "…Well, you're better with your mouth. So it evens out."

Loke started chuckling again.

But soon it turned back into a low moan as Gray dragged his tongue along the small of his back, sending another pleasurable shudder running down his spine.

Finally the other's hands started traveling downward, moving to get his belt and pants off, leaving room for Loke to take a breather and roll onto his back again. Seeing how flushed and aroused the ice wizard looked, Loke figured he himself must look three times as bad, which sent him into a fit of chuckles again.

Gray paused once he slipped the belt off to stare down at Loke, "…What's so funny?"

Loke smiled widely, "Nothing really."

Gray continued staring a few seconds longer with a dubious expression, but seemed to give up on pressing further in favor of getting the other's pants off.

Loke's gaze then drifted to the ceiling as he thought for a moment.

"…I think…" he began quietly, so quietly perhaps Gray didn't hear him, "…you've changed too. For the better."

That made Gray stop, and he looked back down at him in surprise, "…What?"

Loke smiled, eyes drifted back to him, "…You're different from the last time I saw you. Or rather, the last time we really spent time together."

Gray was beginning to look dumbfounded, the corner of his lips curving up slightly, as if he thought this was a joke, "…Seriously?"

Loke laughed, "You don't believe me?"

"Not really…" Gray frowned with a wary expression.

Loke chuckled once more, before sitting up suddenly, bring a hand up to run his fingers through the other man's hair, "…I think…" He started again, smiling thoughtfully, "You've gotten…hmm…" while trying to search for the right words, his thumb gently traced over the scar above Gray's left eye, "More appreciative of what you have."

Gray still looked at him, puzzled, prompting Loke to add a little too cheerfully, "I suppose that would be Natsu's doing, hm?"

The ice mage's face faulted, turning a brilliant shade of red in the process, "W-w-what?! T-that's—!" He coughed once, trying to being back his composure, "…I think that's the worst thing anyone's ever said to me," he said deadpan.

Loke held back his laughter, "You really are cute."

Gray could feel veins at his forehead, "…There is _nothing _that flame-eating bastard has ever done to improve my life. And if you start laughing again I'll freeze you to the damn bed."

Loke swallowed down the urge, "Well, if you say so…" he replied with a plastered smile.

The other's scowl weakened a bit to a calm frown, his face still flushed. Though for what reason it was hard to say.

The two stayed like that for a while, staring at one another in a strange sort of comfortable silence, Loke sitting up while leaning back on his hands for support, and Gray still partially straddling him, both shirtless and almost both pantsless.

But Loke had the feeling the other man wasn't really angry for what was said, because Loke didn't feel like that for what Gray had said, like an unspoken understanding between them. Both were different than they were before. For the better. And they understood that. Even if it was because of different people in their lives.

"…..Hey," Gray was the first to break the silence. Loke smiled lightly, and he continued, "…We're done stopping and talking, right?"

Loke couldn't help but giggle just a little.

"…Yes. I believe we are."

He pulled the other in for a kiss and their bodies melted back together again.


End file.
